Genesis,
or The birth of the project
In the end of the 50's, following endless debates argues and effort, the Israeli
Submarine flotilla was established when the Israeli Navy (IN) purchased from the
British Navy two old, WWII, "S" class submarines.
The second generation was comprised of three second-hand "T" - conversion class
also been bought from the British, which one of them, the I.N.S. "DAKAR", had
been lost in the Mediterranean on it's way to Haifa.
A substantial change occurred in the third generation in the early 70's when Vickers
Shipyards in Barrow, England, built three new "GAL" class submarines based on
existing and proved German design (IKL). No more second-hand boats but still on
the safe side of existing submarines in a friendly navy.
By that time the IN gained an important operational and technical experience,
which could lead to a further step of having it's own design of a modern submarine.
This means that the Navy can suit and "tailor" the submarine capabilities to the
operational requirements, which derived out of the arena and the threat you are
about to face. Therefore, considering the risks of building "First of class",
the IN have decided for it's fourth submarine generation to develop its own boat
in accordance with its needs and operational requirements - the ultimate under-water
combat system.
As early as 1982, delegation of the Navy and MOD stuff did the first submarines
market evaluation, including US shipyards. Later, in 1984 the IN initiated the
so-called "Concept design" involving the Dutch Wilton-Fejnord shipyard and the
German IKL design office as a competitor companies and later in 1986 the preliminary
design had started with IKL.
At those early stages the Navy had the "SAAR 5" program running in parallel and
the main activity on the submarine subject was executed both in Germany (IKL,
Lubeck) concerning the platform and US (Rockwell, California) as for the combat
systems.
The ambitious modernization program of the Navy needed a creative solution, which
could enable the US funds and still select a capable and experienced shipyard
in the conventional submarines. On October '88 the negotiation with the German
Consortium (HDW, Kiel & TNSW, Emden) had started in New York, not before several
delegations paid a visit to the IN and investigated the actual needs and operational
capabilities. Among them were RADM Durby of the JCS and Dr. Dov Zackheim ( '85
and '86 respectively ).
Meanwhile in the IDF and the Defense Ministry there was a furious debate with
regard of the national priority of the program in general and the submarines in
particular, partially as a result of the wide priority debate within the IN.
Finally Defense Minister Y. Rabin approve the submarine program on July '89 and
as a result the contract is signed in New York on August 25th, 1989.
Early in 1990 there was the struggle on the Combat system selection, which had
awarded to companies Loral & Atlas Electronics. A unique and complicated contract
has been signed between the parties, which includes the Israeli Government, German
Government, Two German shipyards, and various combat system suppliers.
Furthermore, the Government of Israel (IN & MOD) was contractually and actually
responsible to supply and coordinate all combat systems. On top of that, was the
complexity of the work sharing between the two Shipyards, which required a great
deal of coordination and shifting of submarine's sections from one shipyard to
the another. Heavy pressure of the IDF combined with budgetary burden led Defense
Minister Moshe Arens, on November 30th 1990, to a regretful and unfortunate decision
to terminate the submarine contract. In spite of several Ministers resistance
to Arens' termination of the program, Prime-Minister (PM) Shamir accepted the
rule and made it final... but not for long.

The
unexpected assistance
On January 15th 1991, the Gulf War broke out and the next day Israel experienced
for the first time the long distance ballistic missiles attack on its civilian
population, the main threat was from the possibility of chemical warheads that
were developed with the support of German companies.
As a result, after the end of the Gulf War, the German Government offered humanity
and military support, An Israeli delegation was sent to Germany and late at
night on January 30th Chancellor Kohl approved an assistance package including
the construction of two Dolphin submarines. The project was again on its way
and the contract was rewritten and signed on April '91.
It was not before '93 when, with the strong support of the late PM Yizhak Rabin,
the Israeli Navy Commander in Chief, RADM Ayalon stated its policy and priority
in such manner that could result in terms of contract amendment on April '94
which actually added the third boat to the scope of work.
The first of class was launched and named in Emden on April 15th 1996 and the
third on July 9th 1998.
All along the project a Navy staff comprised of experienced submariners and
engineers were posted as inspection team in all major locations of activities.
As early as Sub-Con '95, very well organized by the German industry in Kiel,
we could sense that the "Dolphin" is about to be a leading submarine, representing
a state of the art technology and fulfill highly crossbar of operational demands
and requirements.

The
Operational Concept Israel has a long coast along the
eastern edge of the Mediterranean considered to be a strategic asset, the only
open free gate to the western world. No nation would voluntarily give up such
an asset of an open sea with its two facets, the surface as well as the under-water
domain. Obviously it should be on the Israeli agenda as well, not forgetting
that the 56' and 67' Wars were started as a result of the Red Sea blockade.
In the mid 80's the existing submarines in service were about to commence the
mid-life conversion and in combat we were about to face already exist as well
as future threats, like the ASW Helicopters and long range ASW capabilities.
This situation dictated up grading of the submarine force, which led to a new
type of boat. The main tasks of the submarine are:

Secure
the sea line of communication to the state of Israel.

Intelligence
gathering.

Defense
Home-water mainly against submarines threats.

Other
classic submarine tasks.

Taking
into account the arena and the threats we facing, it was necessary to extend
the submarine capability to stay submerged and still keep maximum combat readiness.
The transit average Speed of Advance (SOA) normally would limit the boat and
might cause a situation of "missing the action". Therefore the submarine has
to be able to reach long distance destinations at a shortest possible time in
a maximum discrete manner.
Extending the submarine capability to stay in the enemy waters would save unproductive
transits as well as increasing the operational flexibility in combat scenarios.
Hence we ought to increase the engagement capabilities by having more torpedoes
and missiles to a greater range. The availability of the weapon is, among other
factors, a function of number of tubes, variety of armament and capability of
quick reliable reload.
Aiming a design goal of greater survivability in an environment of modern ASW
platforms and Helicopters it is bound to reduce drastically the "indiscretion
rate" which means less time snorting for more SOA in a lower level of self-noise.
Using modern long-range weapons dictates also long range detection and classification
capabilities to maximize the advantages derived from the armament in use. It
means, among other features, long range low-frequency sonar and great effort
to keep low level of self-noise at all modes of operation.
Increasing the efficiency of the crew can be obtained by setting higher degree
of reliable automation as well as considerable improvement in their living conditions.
The modular design of major systems would enable future growth in accordance
to new operational requirements, which expected to arise along the submarine
service.

As all the above
mentioned considerations might lead to a much larger displacement, yet there
are some arena features that force the designer to give a great deal of attention
and priority to high maneuverability in constrained shallow water which means
limited submarine displacement. Let alone this constrain would also serve the
requirement for high degree of survivability as well as low target strength
to stay undetected. Having said all that we can summarize the operational requirements
and the design goals of the submarine as follow:

Extend the
submarine capability to stay submerge with maximum combat readiness and capabilities.

Extend the
boat endurance at sea.

Extend the
operational range while shortening the transit period to given destination.

Considerable
improvement of indiscretion rate.

Extend the
submarine availability of engagement (i.e. various weapons).

Integrated
Combat and platform system to a greater efficiency with for future growth
capability.

As one may conclude having all these requirements in consideration was an enormous
challenge of achieving maximum design goals in a minimum space and volume.

The
combat system:
The combat system should be considered as the heart of the "stealth machine"
while all other platform systems have to serve the purpose of positioning the
boat "on time, on position, on target" meaning, in the right place, at the right
time and at the adequate depth. By that it will be possible to extract the submarine
advantage upon its opponent and achieve the ultimate superiority.
The more integrated and sophisticated the combat system is, more likely it would
support decision-making process of the commanding officer and the attack team.
Moreover, integrated system accelerate the process of detection and classification
thus give an early warning of possible threats which helps to avoid being detected,and
be able to fulfill its task.
Hence, despite all technology sophistication the end result very much depends
on the command-team capabilities to monitor, control and "criticize" the computer
recommendations. This process would ensure the weapon would pursue the real
targets and not virtual ones.
Unlike combat systems of old generations, where it was comprised of group of
"stand-alone" systems with limited number of functions, the "Dolphin" combat
system is an integrated one, enabling all the subsystem work together to create
an optimum tactical picture by using Multi-function Consoles (MFC).
The modern surface vessels and submarines, the long range of detection and weapon
capabilities set a significant challenge to the submarine's combat system which
is expected to detect, analyze, classify and recommend solutions and assign
the weapon as fast and accurate as possible. This means implementation of high
level of automation and technology.
A major part of the "Dolphin" combat system was developed by STN-ATLAS as few
steps forward from successful sonar and combat systems like ISUS 83. It is a
new generation, ISUS '90 "tailored" to the specific requirements of the IN to
manage, handle and control its own sonar as well as all other Government of
Israel Furnished Equipment (GOIFE) such as Periscopes, ESM, Communication, Navigation
etc. The technology in use and the integration of the combat systems enabled
to minimize the time needed between detection and actual engagement.

The system consist
of:

Detection
sensors:

Acoustic
(including LOFAR sonar)

Electromagnetic
(radar, ESM)

Optronic

Tactical
data:

Signal
analysis

Classification

Target
Motion Analysis (TMA)

Self-noise
monitoring

Tactical
situation display:

Weapon control:

Threat
analysis

System
and weapon status

Fire
control solutions

Pre-setting
and firing of weapons

Control
of wire-guided torpedoes

Weapons:

Torpedoes

Missiles

Mines

Decoys

In order
to intensify the system efficiency it handles and controls also "external"
systems like

Periscopes
& Optronic control

ESM.

External
& Internal Communication.

Navigation
functions.

Other vital
data that might influence the boat's mission like battery capacity, machinery
& hull integrity and self-noise monitoring can be displayed to the command
team.

Sub-systems
and sensors:

Sonar
The sonar consists of Low Frequency Sonar (LOFAR) with the Flank-Array mounted
on the hull on both sides. It includes the Cylindrical Array (CA) in the bow,
which complementary to the acoustic detection in medium frequencies and ranges.
The Passive Ranging Sonar (PRS) consist of three hydrophones on each side
of the submarine casing, helps allocate targets in the medium and short ranges.
The Intercept Antenna (IA), installed on the casing, can detect and analyze
any kind of acoustic transmission and gives sufficient alert on threats which
might endanger the submarine.
The Under Water Telephone (UWT) usually considered as communication mean but
can also serve, in some instances, as a provision of detecting very close
and risky vessels.
As the sonar system is the major detection system while submerge, with the
LOFAR sonar it expands the detection ranges enormously. Consequently the number
of targets to be tracked and evaluated at the same time is significantly high.
As a result of information over-flows the workload has to be divided among
few operators, depending on the submarine mode of operation.
In-order to build the tactical picture an extensive use of a Target Motion
Analysis Algorithm (TMA) is done, manually or automatically. In such complex
system each sensor can contribute a piece of information. Having all pieces
gathered together is not enough mainly because of information overflow, which
makes it almost impossible to maintain. It is the way of integrating these
so many pieces of information, which makes the tactical display relevant,
and rightfully represents the outside world. Otherwise it could be a waste
of time.
As all acoustic sensors greatly influenced by self-noise, Own Noise Arrays
(ONA) are distributed all over the boat to monitor the submarine self-noise
level. Their task is to detect any exceptional noise in sensitive areas and
platform systems, which mainly disturb the sonar efficient operation and might
betray the submarine presence.

Periscopes
Two Kollmorgen periscopes are installed in the "Dolphin". The search one is
a special development for the IN equipped with ESM early warning, optic &
video, and communication antenna. Both periscopes are penetrating the hull.
The attack one is obviously thinner to enable better stealth capability during
the final approach to the target. The stabilized picture improves somewhat
the magnification. The real change is a cultural change in the operating concept
as no longer only the captain or the officer of the watch have the outside
world picture. From now on, one can rotate the periscope and the outside picture
can be seen on the screen of the console by all Combat Information Center
(CIC) members at the same time.
The integration of so many sensors on the periscope is a technology challenge
and also gain some operational advantages as in one sweep you may collect
a message from the headquarter or other own forces, detect threatening emitters
and build up the surface tactical picture in a very short time.

ESM
On-board the "Dolphin" an Israeli "Elbit" elint (electronic inteligence) system
is installed, expected to give full picture of all threatening emitters within
few seconds after the antenna breach out the water.
The ESM data is displayed as an integrated system in the STN-ATLAS console.

Communication
A traditional requirement from a submarine communication system is to enable
transmissions and reception of several bands of frequencies at the same time,
as well as support of navigation system like GPS and OMEGA.
As already mentioned the "Dolphin" has two communication masts for redundancy
in all bands (HF, VHF, and UHF). The search periscope enables reception of
variety of signals. The system itself, external and internal, is of Israel's
TADIRAN, "tailored" to the specifications of the IN for "SAAR-5" and "Dolphin"
projects.
The communication system is very flexible and enables assigning of each station
to any communication net onboard. As an emergency resort, on the surface,
there is the emergency antenna enabling communication on HF band.

Radar
For all navigation and safety purposes, a special Kelvin-Hues radar antenna
is installed on a non-penetrating mast.

The Weapon Control
The integrated STN-ATLAS combat system has all vital information on the tubes
and weapons. As soon as a target is selected, the adequate weapon is assigned
and automatically the relevant firing data is injected as a pre-setting to the
selected weapon. In case torpedo was fired against surface or submerged target,
a guidance procedure can be initiated, either automatically from the combat
system or manually by the operator.
Weapon handling is managed via the Torpedo Control System (TCS) in the forward
compartment (loading, reloading, flooding the torpedo-tubes etc..)

Platform
technical description and philosophy
The safety concept, based on the traditional German design, is primarily based
on the high strength of the pressure hull. In case of malfunction or accident,
it is assumed that the pressure hull will remain intact and the submarine can
be brought to the surface quickly by blowing out the ballast tanks using Emergency
Blowing System.
To support this concept, each opening in the hull is double sealed from the
sea (i.e. Hull valve and Secondary Hull valve). The valves are monitored and
controlled from the Engineering and Monitoring Control System (EMCS). From this
station the crew can also control and monitor all the technical system with
maximum efficiency and safety.
The need for increasing maneuverability is relevant for operations in coastal
and shallow waters, and is met by the high performance X-rudders configuration
and the position of the forward hydroplanes on the forward casing, operated
from the Steering Station (STSN) by one helmsman.
One of the major factors in the modern Anti Submarine Warfare, is the Signature
of the submarine, therefore Signature Management was one of the major efforts
in the design and the construction of "Dolphin" class submarine.
The ability to achieve long missions is also related to the reliability of the
technical system with high level of redundancy. The main three rules in the
system design were:

Redundancy
of at least 50% for vital units (i.e. three sets are installed, two sets are
for the most demanding mode of operation).

Fail safe
concept for most remote operating units and systems (i.e. fail in the EMCS
to control the system will set the system to a safe setup, or in case of power
fail the individual unit will shutdown to it's safe position.

Cascade mode
of operation, from the high level down to the lowest one:

Automatic
mode, or complete sequence.

Operating
from the Local Operating Panels.

Operating
centralize location of hydraulic control blocks.

Manual
operating of the individual valve.

Main
Characteristics

Dimensions

Overall length-56.4
m

Height-12.7
m

Pressure
hull diameter-6.75 m

Standard
displacement-1550 t

Diving Depth-greater
than 200 m

Propulsion
plant

1 Double
armature Propulsion Motor

3 set
of diesel Generators - MTU 16V396

2 set
of batteries cells

Speed and
Endurance

Max speed-20
kn

Max snorting
speed-12 kn

Submerge
endurance-Few days

Cruising
range, (result of SOA)-4500 nm

Armament
10 multi purpose tubes and 6 reloads.

Accommodation

Complement:35+10

Banks:35

Provision:
More than one month

Hoistable
Masts

Secondary
Communication mast with ESM

Radar
Mast

Search
Periscope

Attack
Periscope

Snorkling
Mast (Snorkel)

Main
Communication Mast

The
Hull
"Dolphin" class Submarine hull configuration is the traditionally "Single Hull"
Submarine. The line design is optimized to get low resistance and to avoid flow
Noise. Closing all the openings that are not in use permanently also eliminates
flow noise, achieving the effect of "Closed Hull".
The pressure hull of "Dolphin" is made out of the well known and proven steel
for submarine with high strength and elasticity - HY 80. The strength of the
pressure hull is calculated with safety factor of 2. The design and the construction
were proven by diving test to depth greater by 25% of the Maximum Operating
Depth, and Strain measurement in more than 100 location along the hull.
The pressure hull has been optimized to the maximum useable space inside the
pressure hull for a limited maximum displacement. This constrain was given during
the design, in order to meet the requirement for a "Coastal Submarine".The general arrangement (from fwd to aft): The unique design allows a
two-deck arrangement along most area of the boat.

General
arrangement

Upper
deck

Accommodation
- crew quarters, cold store and kitchen.

Combat
Information Center (CIC)

Technical
Control Center (TCC)

Second
deck

Torpedo
Tubes and Weapon Storage Room

Electronic
Room

Converters
Room and machinery

Lower
level

Battery
rooms.

Machinery
room.

tanks
and bilge.

Engine
Room (ER)
located in the aft part, has one deck, main components located in the ER:

Main
Propulsion Motor

Three
Diesel Generators

Hydraulic
station

Two
High Air Pressure compressors

Main
Bilge Pump

Tanks
and air conditioning room.

For maintenance
purposes, in the ER top there is "Maintenance Hatch" allows taking out complete
Diesel Engine without the necessity to cut the hull.

Hydrodynamics
and maneuverability
With Optimum line design and with relative low length to diameter ratio, "Dolphin"
Submarine has very high maneuverability. It is steered by high performance x-rudders
configuration and forward hydroplanes located on the forward casing.
From practical reasons of mooring alongside the peer, the size of the x- rudders
was limited to the hull diameter, therefore two stabilizers has to be added
in order to get positive dynamic stability in all speeds.
Maneuvering and controlling the boat is done from the steering station (STSN),
which is a double seat, "One Man Control" Stick wheel configuration, design
by "Ferranti" and later taken over by GEC Marconi.
The STSN is fully redundant system, the major features are:

cascade mode
of operation, from fully AutoPilot down to emergency mode, which is purely
hydraulic.

Hydroplanes
are switched over to redundant hydraulic circuit.

Integrated
Safety Envelopes. Based on boat condition (i.e. speed, depth, pitch and the
distance from the surface or the seabed), the hydroplane deflection are limited.

Recommended
steering.

Recommended
compensating and trimming.

Engineering
and Monitoring Control System (EMCS) From the EMCS the crew controls and monitors
the technical system with maximum efficiency and safety. Also the EMCS has very
high automation level, includes fully automatic modes or complete sequence of
operation (i.e. close loop mode), the Operator has full control on a step by step
procedure and he can interrupt whenever he finds needed. Safety functions may
be overridden by Hard Wire control directly form the EMCS console (mainly, pressure
hull openings). The system architecture includes ten Local Processing Units (LPU's)
that are distributed along the boat, connected by a redundant bus system (SI-NEC-H1)
with four control and monitoring computers with high-resolution color screens
at the Central Control Station.
Each technical System interfaces are directed to one LPU which is equipped with
SIMATIC S5-155U programmable controllers, therefore the system philosophy and
modes of operation (e.g. safety limitation, open loop - individual component,
close loop - full procedures) software is located in this LPU computer. With this
configuration it is possible to operate the Platform Technical Systems from the
Central Station and directly from the LPU's via the Local Operating Panel (LOP)
located on the LPU itself.
The major challenge of the development was the definition of an overall operating
concept that laid down in detail, this process involved each individual technical
system for simple and safe operation. The IN invested in this evaluation and process
it's best long experience in submarine operation, working together with Siemens
and shipyard experts.
The main principle is to keep the operator in the loop. This means that apart
from safety-relevant functions, the control system does not automatically start
processes and change values, but the process must always be started by the operator,
and reference values recommended by the control system must always be confirmed.

The Man-Machine
Interface (MMI)
As a result of special attention to the MMI, the operator control and operates
the boat with the four display screens, Dedicated Control & Monitoring Panels
(DCMP) and Hard Wire Control Panels (HWCP) which are mainly for safety units
(e.g. Secondary Hull Valves). Depend on the frequency of operation, each unit
or complete process may operate from few locations (e.g. keyboard and screens,
DCMP and HWCP).

Ship's Technical
SystemPropulsion system
The propulsion system is a conventional one. Consist of two of Batteries sets
supply the power to the main switchboard. The main switchboard connects the
Batteries and the Main Propulsion Motor in a way that it's possible to supply
the necessary power needed by the propeller.
The Main Propulsion Motor is directly connected to the propeller through a flexible
coupling, by the Propeller Shaft. Torpedo Tubes
The 10 Multi Purpose tubes are installed forward, penetrating the forward dome.
These tubes are design to 21-inch diameter weapons. The weapons may be Swim-Out
or ejected by hydraulic piston. Quick reloading is possible with the Embarkation
and Storage System, which is installed behind the tubes. The spare weapons are
ready to load since they are seating just behind each tube set.
Most of the functions of loading and firing the weapons into the tubes is done
from the Tube Control System (TCS) and the Embarkation system. Some of the functions
are done in "close loop" process (e.g. tube flooding or draining, set to ready,
fire sequence) Hoistable Masts
In order to allow high speed in periscope depth, all masts are streamline faired.
The fairing avoid direct sea load on the mast, therefore vibration are reduced
to minimum. The fairing is also reduced the wave making which is one of the
main parameters for RCS and optical recognition.
To minimize the waste of internal space, most of the masts are "non-penetrating
masts" i.e. telescopic extension in the bridge fin. The penetrating ones are
the periscopes, since their optical line of sight, and main communication mast
since it is a long wipe antenna. The new snorkel concept, allow "preparing to
snorting" under water. Accommodations
In order to keep the crew in shape for long stays at sea, the Accommodations
were design to allow them to rest, to dine or to have entertainment in parallel.
i.e. banks rooms are dedicated for sleeping, and in addition there are messes
for eating etc. Increased number of toilets was installed in order to improve
crew comfort.
Large space of refrigerator room allows keeping fresh food for long time.

Emergency
Deballasting System
With the experience of the Hydrazine Emergency System which is installed on
the existing submarine, "Gal" Class, and with consideration of the advantage
and disadvantage of that system, the IN has decided to develop new Emergency
Deballasting System which is working on High Pressure (HP) air installed onboard.
The principle is very simple: supply large amount of air into the Forward Main
Ballast Tanks in the shortest time possible.
The emergency blowing system consists of: approx. 9 m3 of HP air in 250 bar,
large diameter piping system (DN80) and special developed control valve, that
controlled the overpressure in the main ballast tanks. The advantages of this
system are:

Very safe
system (compared to the hydrazine).

The blowing
process can be stopped and restart again at anytime.

The system
remains in function after use. Only the HP air bottles need to be recompressed.

The Disadvantages are:

The blowable
volume depends on the depth (i.e. it is not possible to completely empty the
main ballast tanks in the maximum diving depth.

Safety envelopes
The Safety Envelope (SE) defines the domain that the submarine must stay in,
to guarantee that in case of an emergency situation, special recovery maneuvers
will avoid the loss of the submarine. The two cases are major malfunction in
the control surfaces (planes) and water inrush.
Using the performance of the Emergency Deballasting System, the SE was derived
from the results of a large number of maneuvering simulations, which were done
on different sets of initial conditions.
The results were represented by set of empirical equations, which are basically
continue limiting the control surfaces deflection angles, depends on the boat
conditions (speed, trim, depth, and distance from surface or seabed).
In case of water inrush, the use of Emergency Deballasting depends mainly on
depth and the ability to tight the boat. The SE is integrated in the STSN. Therefore
the rudders' operator gets information about the free space for maneuver, or
alarms, in case the boat penetrate the SE. In automatic mode (Auto Pilot engaged)
the control surfaces are actually limited to a specific deflection calculated
by the SE.

Rescue and
Escape
Whenever the recovery actions are failed, the crew may rescue itself from the
sunken submarine with the aid of Rescue Jerking suit and the supported system-
Built In Breathing System (BIBS). If the Boat lay down on the seabed and still
intact, the crew may wait to rescue by the DSRV, or to escape from the access
trunk with the Hood Inflation System (HIS).
To support the rescued crew there is one raft including distress transmitter,
packet into a sphere. When the sphere released from the submarine and get to
the surface, it is open and the raft afloat and the distress transmitter starts
to transmit an SOS signal. In addition it is possible to send signals to the
surface via the Submerge Signal Ejector (SSE).

Conclusion
Although the complex "Dolphin" project has not yet finalized it can be said
at this stage that the IN will soon be equipped with first-class submarines,
which are in many respects the state of the art. In a submarine of its size
the Contractors and the IN achieved maximization of capabilities, integrated
combat systems and automation in such a level that would permit to keep the
complement as small as possible even in comparison to smaller submarines. It
goes without saying that the result of such a project could not be achieved
without the full cooperation and support of all parties involved. Shipyards,
IKL and STN-Atlas had to exercise their utmost talent and capacity to meet the
demanding challenge of the contract.